Rare Plant Bloom Documented for the First Time on Mount Hermon

Botanist Dr. Uri Fragman-Sapir has documented the first-ever flowering of the small dongit plant on Mount Hermon. The plant was found on the Dubdevan ridge in Israel’s highest Hermon area, at an elevation of 2,150 meters.

Last year, Zalman Baumwohl spotted the plant for the first time, and Fragman-Sapir, the scientific director of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, identified it during a vegetation survey from a dried specimen. This year, Fragman-Sapir organized a special botanical survey to record the plant in bloom and to monitor other plants in the area.

Fragman-Sapir said the team had to wait for approval from the Nature and Parks Authority and the military to enter the high Hermon area for surveys after the bird nesting season. He said that only on Tuesday were they finally able to go into the field, and they were pleased to find the plant in full bloom with unusual yellow flowers that are closed and opened by small bees.

According to Fragman-Sapir, this is the first documentation of the plant’s flowers in Israel. He added,